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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. swing — to play on
  3. hand — help
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. wound — an injury
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. rock — a stone
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. hand — in cards
  13. cold — an illness
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. swing — in golf
  16. rock — music
  17. swing — music
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. cold — not warm
  20. bat — the animal
  21. chip — for betting
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. wound — an injury
  24. chip — to eat

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com